🌿 SUMMER HARVEST, MELIANTHUS MAJOR 🌿 Honey Bush

Papery seed pods of summer each containing
 3-4 black seeds of Melianthus major.
The drying lanterns are paired with French Quimper Faience, 
tin-glazed, hand-painted pottery plate donated by 
Neck Pointer, Ann Shilling, to the Shaw Inc Live Auction, 
4th of July in the 1980s. Thanks Ann.

Flowering Melianthus major.
Honey Bush.

Common name: "Honey Bush"

Life cycle: Evergreen shrub is sometimes grown as an herbaceous perennial 

Native growing region: South Africa. Naturalized in India, Australia, and New Zealand.

Height: Can reach 7 to 10-feet tall. Time to ultimate height, 5-10 years.

Bloom time: When established it will flower May to August.

Description: Lush, large glaucous leaves. Prized as a tropical looking accent plant. Hardy down to 23º F. Could use a protective mulch cover for winter.

Tolerates: DEER!

Seeding: Sow in Spring, Mar-May, in pots or trays of moist seed compost and cover with a light sprinkling of vermiculite. Keep temperature c. 55-64ºF. Keep moist but not waterlogged. Germination in 21-30 days. When large enough to handle, transplant into 3-inch pots and then again to 5-inch pots until a good size for planting out.

Uses: Flower borders; city/courtyard gardens/ exotic-sub-tropical gardens. Good background to Cannas, Dahlias, Alliums.

Culture: Likes light, well-drained soil and full sun in a sheltered position.

Notes: All parts of the plant are poisonous, as many of our garden plants, but it has earned an AGM from the Royal Horticultural Society.

"The blue-leaved Melianthus major is just about my favorite foliage plant."
Christopher Lloyd.  A Year at Great Dixter.Viking. 1987.

Seed Source: Shaw Island, WA.